Luminaries have traditionally been used to illuminate an area to deter the presence of trespassers, making an environment more secure. However, to illuminate an environment, the luminaire must be emitting light and consuming energy. Operating the luminaire during the day, when the environment may already be illuminated by the sunlight, may be inefficient and wasteful of energy.
As a result, proposed solutions in the prior art have included photoelectric sensors to detect the presence of light. By using a photoelectric sensor, a luminaire could automatically turn off during a time in which the environment may be illuminated by daylight.
However, a luminaire that includes a photoelectric sensor may lack operation control during the period between sunset and sunrise. Although the amount of energy consumed by the luminaire has been reduced, the luminaire may still be illuminating an environment when there are no objects, such as trespassers, or other conditions that would need illuminated. Additionally, a photoelectric sensor may sense the ambient light levels in an environment due to the light produced by the lighting device to which the sensor is attached. Furthermore, traditional ambient light sensors, such as photoelectric sensors, are typically bulky and aesthetically unappealing.
In an attempt to address the inefficiencies inherent to using a photoelectric sensor to control operation of the luminaire relative to ambient light conditions, devices in the prior art have included passive infrared sensors to detect motion. However, the addition of these motion sensors may add an undesirable amount of bulk to the lighting device to which it is attached. Also, due to the limited configurability of motion sensors in the prior art, numerous false detection of movement as well as low detection rates may occur depending on ambient conditions.
Additionally, luminaires of the prior art typically require sensors to be directly connected to each luminaire. In some configurations, multiple luminaires will be positioned throughout the environment. According to the prior art, each of these luminaires would require independent sensors to detect motion, ambient light, and/or other conditions of the environment, which may operate inconsistently. There exists a need for an intelligent luminaire that may communicate with additional luminaires in the environment to create a network and share sensory data.
Furthermore, the luminaires of the prior art lack an ability to easily modify operation through a simplified and uniform interface. There exists a need for a configurable luminaire, the operation of which may be modifiable by a user through an accessible interface.
As a result, there exists a need for a luminaire that may illuminate an environment in which a condition is detected. There additionally exists a need for a lighting device that provides an interface to configure the operation of the luminaire. There further exists a need for a luminaire that combines illumination, motion detection, and ambient light detection in one device.